I'm interested in creating a star field, and I'm assuming
particles is the best way to achieve this. I've been looking at
some examples of creating particle systems, and the basics aren't
too hard. But I'm not looking to create moving particles, I need
particles that are spawned immediately and don't move. Essentially,
a static star field. So that I can move a camera through the 3d
scene and particles myself.

This does what I wanted to a degree.. by creating multiple
planes of emitters, I give an illusion of a star field. But the
problem I'm encountering is that the particles seem to blink in and
out of existence every few seconds. I'm using #burst, so they all
spawn at once, and with loop=0 they should not be reborn (since I
thought perhaps loop was the problem).. but they still keep
blinking in and out. Anyone know what could cause this?